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Family charged with smuggling Brazilians into state, forcing them to work at the family restaurants under threats of violence, at slave wages
By adamg on Tue, 04/04/2023 - 9:44pm
For the second time in a month, the owners of Massachusetts restaurants have been charged with "forced labor" for the slave-like conditions they allegedly subjected their undocumented. restaurant workers to.
Jesse Moraes and Hugo Moraes, owners of The Dog House and Tudo Na Brasa in Woburn, were already facing federal charges related to the way they and a relative in Brazil allegedly smuggled people into Massachusetts, by way of Mexico. In an indictment unsealed today, they now also face the forced-labor charge, which by itself carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years. The indictment also adds two non-relatives to the alleged conspiracy, which also involves money laundering.
Beginning in or about July 2016 through in or about October 2022, Chelbe, Jessie and Hugo conspired together and with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury to obtain the labor and services of Migrants by means of: force, threats of force, physical restraint, threats of physical restraint, serious harm, and threats of serious harm to Migrants and another person; abuse and threatened abuse of law and legal process; and a scheme, plan and pattern intended to cause the Migrants to believe that, if they did not perform such labor and services, they and another person would suffer serious harm and/or physical restraint.
Last month, the owner of Stash's pizzerias in Dorchester and Roslindale was arrested on a forced-labor charge for the way he terrorized and underpaid the migrant he allegedly preferred to hire so he could underpay and overwork them. A grand jury later added additional forced-labor and attempted force labor charges against Stavros Papantoniadis.
Innocent, etc.
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 Complete indictment | 597.38 KB |
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Comments
I've been a fan of Tudo Na Brasa for twenty years,
have brought dozens of friends and colleagues there. My favorite moment was bringing a visiting work friend who had relocated from Brazil to Singapore for her husband's work, as I knew she couldn't get decent churrasco in her new home. She was so ecstatic about the food, and blissfully noted the different regional accents of the staff: "He's from Bahia, she's from Sao Paolo."
Shades of that unspeakable, criminal asshole Jordan Tobins of The Upper Crust Pizzeria. Infuriating and heartbreaking.
Tobins seems like a well adjusted chap
https://twitter.com/jstobins?lang=en
His twitter feed is positively deranged.
Same, we've been going there
Same, we've been going there for at least ten years. Shocking.
tip of the iceberg
My previous comment about the Stash's guy being the tip of the iceberg is sadly probably more accurate than anyone would like.
these are not the only ones
it is common practice to promise people jobs and bus them up to NY or Boston to then house them in overcrowded apartments working 80 hours a week. been going on a long time and people in the restaurant industry know it.
It’s more widespread than sex trafficked massage workers
But gets almost no press - not enough sizzle for the Globe and the interest groups.
The entire island of
The entire island of Nantucket is exactly this.
Good to know
Well its good to know slavery is alive and well in the US in 2023.
jfc. *smh* This should not be happening.
Slavery has been legal in
Slavery has been legal in this country and remains legal since the end of the civil war. It's just only legal for those convicted of a crime.
This is an awful story but the idea we don't have alive and well slavery in this country is silly. Look at agricultural workers, for one.
Chinatown: “Hold my beer”
Chinatown: “Hold my beer”
In approximately two years
In approximately two years from now ROBOTS will replace waiters , bus boys , and cooks and most other jobs , it will make restaurant owners make more money by cutting off humans as employees. The Government should put a tax on the owner for the robot who will be working hours a week.